Saturday, September 19, 2015

I have two Rafaels. One is my companion and friend, Rafael Abram. The other is Rafael Martinez, our driftwood artist and my friend for 11 years. Both of them share the same birth date! So this year it will be easy for me... barbeque party for both on their day!

Friday, September 18, 2015

I was going through a rough time in April of 2014. One day as I was painting this little gray kitten walks right into my workshop and lies there staring at me. I gave it some milk and it drank all and went to sleep. Later I sent a friend to all the neighbors with the kitten to try and find the owner. Nobody claimed him. So I got him some canned food and snacks, and he settled right in. He got his shots and checkup and the vet, Dr. Bennett, said he was about 4 months old. So okay that was Van Gogh. I was not looking for a kitty, I had lost my companion of 16 years, Master BeeBee Esq., (and BeeBee was with me longer than any boyfriend I ever had, I'm not easy to live with!) but this kitty found me so I was not about to turn him away. So we settle in. A month later I was up in Placencia parked by the old gas station, the door open and listening to music, enjoying the stars and sea breeze, and up comes this other little kitty and tries to jump into the van! His head was twisted to one side and his equilibrium was very bad, but he got in finally. I put him out a couple of times but he crawls back in. I started the van, thinking the noise would scare him away, but no. So finally I tucked him into my blouse pocket and drove home. He purred all the way. And that was Gollum. Van Gogh adopted him right away and they became fast friends. Unfortunately we lost Gollum to a respiratory infection this June, although Dr. Bennett tried his best to save him. His neck had been twisted in the womb, you see, so he had a problem from birth. But for the year he was with us he had a wonderful life, as he was doted on by all. Well, we had Gollum for a month and then this female cat walks in. She belonged to a neighbour who did not want her, but she had been fixed so there would be no kittens. She was half feral, the grouchiest cat you ever saw. No one could touch her. She would not befriend Van Gogh and Gollum, only spit at them if they went near. She would approach me for food, but that was it. If I tried to touch her she would claw. But we fed her anyway, and she stayed around. We would warn our visitors to the gallery not to pet her, and we named her Lunatic. I used to tell my visitors I had two and a half cats, as she was half feral. Some friends said she had been abused where she used to live and that's why she was that way, they would throw her at the dogs so there would be fights. She lived in the garden and slept under the house at the beginning. Now she has sweetened up a LOT and we can pet her and she sleeps inside with Van Gogh. We call her Luna now, she's not a lunatic any more.